Window frame comes crashing in CP

Just a day after the cyclothon passed through Connaught Place on Sunday, the hasty and shoddy work carried out by the civic agency showed through.

An arched window of QBA Lounge and Bar in E block, which was installed during the restoration work in Connaught Place last week, fell on the pavement on Monday evening.

No one was injured at the site. The panwallah who sits near the lounge's entrance had packed up just a few minutes back.

"We had just fixed the windows temporarily for the cyclothon as this road was part of the cycling route," said the contractor who has carried out the work at the site.

"The base that was supposed to hold the windows in place had not been fixed. We had secured the windows using wooden wedges instead as we had to finish work in a hurry," he added.

Harjit Kochhar, owner of a gift shop in E block, said, "If anyone were standing near the panwallah, they would have been killed on the spot."

"I informed the authorities as soon as the incident happened but even after an hour no work has started. Officials have come but they are busy talking on their phones," said Karuna Kant Devnath, manager, QBA.

"Why did they remove the scaffolding before fixing the windows properly? Life of a common man is of no importance to them," said Amit Kumar, owner of the adjacent shop.

The manager of the lounge also filed a police complaint.

"We have received the complaint," said Shankar Dash, additional CP (New Delhi).

"Responsibility will be fixed only after the investigation is complete," said NDMC spokesperson Anand Tewari.